Morocco Travel Guide

B3

E1

B3

F2

B4

C3

C4

B3

C4

B2

C4

D3

E4

C2

D2

B2

C2

39 Sandwich Stands

40 Snacks   Stands

41   Taros

    Drinking

42   Alcohol    Shop

43   Café   Restaurant  Bab Laachour

44   Le Patio

    Shopping

45   Association    Tilal   des Arts    Plastiques

46   Coopérative    Artisanal   des Marqueteurs

47   Espace Othello

48   Galerie    Sadiqi

49   Galeries   Frederic    Damgaard

50   Jewellery  Souq

51   Rafia  Craft

52   Riad   al-Khansaa

53   Spice  Souq

54   Woodcarving    Workshops

Transport

55   Résidence  Hôtel   Al-Arboussas

History

Most of the old city and fortifications in Essaouira today date from the 18th century, but the
town has a much older history that started with the Phoenicians. For centuries, foreigners had a
firm grip over the town, and although Moroccans eventually reclaimed it, the foreign influence
lingers on in the way the town looks and feels today.

In 1764 Sultan Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah installed himself in Essaouira, from where his
corsairs could go and attack the people of Agadir who rebelled against him. He hired a French
architect, Théodore Cornut, to create a city in the middle of sand and wind, where nothing
existed. The combination of Moroccan and European styles pleased the Sultan, who renamed
the town Essaouira, meaning ‘well designed’. The port soon became a vital link for trade
between Timbuktu and Europe. It was a place where the trade in gold, salt, ivory, and ostrich
feathers was carefully monitored, taxed and controlled by a garrison of 2000 imperial soldiers.

By 1912 the French had established their protectorate, changed the town’s name back to
Mogador and diverted trade to Casablanca, Tangier and Agadir. It was only with independence
in 1956 that the sleepy backwater again became Essaouira. After Orson Welles filmed Othello
here, and since Jimi Hendrix paid a fleeting visit and the hippies chose Essaouira as a hang out,
the town has seen a steady flow of visitors, from artists, surfers and writers to European
tourists escaping the crowds of Marrakesh.

Sights

Although there aren’t so many formal sights in Essaouira, it’s a wonderful place for rambling.
The medina, souqs, ramparts, port and beach are perfect for leisurely discovery interspersed